Mom’s Facebook account shut down for posting pics of Down syndrome son

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Mom’s Facebook account shut down for posting pics of Down syndrome son

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WTVR) – Facebook is apologizing to a North Carolina mother after ordering her to take down pictures of her son who has Down syndrome.

Diana Cornwell says she posted pictures of her 7-year-old participating in a Special Olympics event.

“On Sunday, when I signed on, I had a message the pictures were a violation and was ordered to remove them in order to continue,” she told CBS Charlotte.

Cornwell says the message below is the one she received from Facebook after posting the photos.

“Thank you for removing the photos that violate the Facebook terms,” the message states. “Because you uploaded photo(s) that violate our policies, you are temporarily blocked from posting on the site.” It also said never upload anything that contains hate speech, support for violent organizations or threats to harm others.

Cornwell says the pictures were nothing more than her 7-year-old son and others playing at the event.

Facebook has since apologized for flagging Cornwell’s pictures.

The photo was taken down in error,” Andrew Noyes, Facebook spokesman, told CBS Charlotte in a statement. “We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and we hope she’ll repost the photo and continue to share her son’s experience at the Special Olympics on Facebook.”